As another year of violence draws to a close, there are growing calls for an end to the conflict and the war crimes committed against the Palestinian people. Advocates for peace emphasize the urgent need to open a path towards ending the occupation and achieving a just and lasting peace in the region. SHEM joins these calls and urges governments, international organizations, and all people of conscience to join us in this critical effort. Together, we must raise our voices and take bold action to stop the genocide and build a future of peace and justice for all.

The Current Situation

Conflict zones across the globe face severe disruptions to their health systems. The destruction of healthcare infrastructure, including hospitals and clinics, leaves millions without access to essential medical services. Disruptions to supply chains for medications and medical supplies exacerbate the situation, creating shortages that hinder effective treatment. The loss of healthcare professionals, whether through displacement or casualties, places additional strain on already overwhelmed systems.In conflict areas, from a public health perspective, sustaining adequate social determinants of health is critical for well….

32 civil society organizations have endorsed a collective statement for the establishment of an international agreement to respond to the ongoing global crisis of unconscionable global and national health inequities, including the effects of climate change. There is still time to sign and strengthen this global movement:

The dire health consequences of the war in Ukraine are being felt most by thepeople of Ukraine, subject to Russian attacks upon their homes and hospitals,sieges of their cities, and denial of safe evacuation routes, and with a quarter ofthe population displaced or having been forced to become refugees. Healthservices are also suffering from lack of maintenance of medical equipment,scarcity of medicines and medical supplies, insufficient staff, and forced absenceof personnel. Critical hospital services are also being hampered by the lack ofelectricity, while ambulances transporting patients are at risk of getting hit in thecrossfire.

Cross-cutting suggestions in relation to COVID-19 and its impact on human rightsand human rights and equality concerns that have arisen during the pandemic To close the health inequalities that pervade the items before the HRC, fromdisproportionate levels of death and infection of poor and marginalizedpopulations from COVID-19 to health consequences of rights deficits that primarilyor especially affect these populations, such as the rights to food and nutrition,access to potable water and waste sanitation, housing, and education –inequalities at odds with the right to health and other rights – we propose that the HRC…

We respectfully direct this message to offer a reflection and a proposal foraction in the wake of the pandemics and the world recovery of this tragedythat had revealed the intricate interconnections of all sectors and theimportance to act together on the environmental, health, and socialdeterminants of health to avoid or mitigate the similar crisis in the future.

The year 2022 begins with a record number of new cases of COVID-19, including in countries with high rates of vaccine coverage. This new wave reminds us that the pandemic remains out of control and that there are no possible accurate predictions about its evolution in the short- or long-term. More importantly, the current surge in cases demonstrates that even significant scientific and technological advances, especially with the development of vaccines, are still insufficient and the evolution of the pandemic remains largely unpredictable.

The Sustainable Health Equity Movement (SHEM) representing the voices of more than 20 million health professionals and from related fields is honored to address the 76th. United Nations General Assembly requesting that its message in favor of sustainable health equity be considered in the deliberations of this prestigious meeting of world leaders. In 2015, the 70th United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution that presented the world with the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is generally agreed that the 2030 Agenda encompasses all the main social and environmental issues of our times which, if fully implemented, may truly transform the world as envisioned by our leaders.

As the G20 Rome Summit takes place, the Sustainable Health Equity Movement (SHEM) urges world leaders to adequately fund a healthy and sustainable recovery. On 5-6 September, the G20 health ministers issued a declaration reaffirming their commitment to global solidarity, equity and a multilateral approach. More specifically, they highlight the need for sustainable, flexible and agile funding systems for health emergencies which should add and complement rather than substitute existing streams for other development goals.

SHEM congratulates the G20 for organizing this Global Health Summit and providing a channel for civil society participation. The COVID-19 pandemic—being the ultimate result of an unsustainable relationship between our societies’ economic growth, our environment, and the majority of he world’s population—has heightened a wide array of social and health inequities worldwide. The global interconnectedness of all living beings, highlighted by the pandemic, reinforces the need to think beyond the boundaries of our national borders. While politics led by short-sighted economic and nationalist decisions can benefit a few and decimate the lives of millions of others, the pandemic has also given us momentum for global responsibility and the duty to cooperate internationally to eliminate the unequal relations that have historically characterized global dynamics.

Firstly, we would like to show our gratitude for your prompt response to our Open Letter, and openness to maintaining the General Council engaged in such important discussions. We understand that the Marrakesh Agreement determines that such issues of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights should be dealt with by the TRIPS Council, and that this specific topic has been an item of discussion during their recent meetings.

We write to you on behalf of the Sustainable Health Equity Movement (SHEM), a coalition of several institutions and representatives of the global civil society that unites more than 500 entities and around 20 million scientists and health professionals from around the world. As a movement, we are deeply committed to the right to health for all. We have witnessed, in our daily practice, the unbearable sufferance that the Covid-19 has brought upon the most vulnerable, taking the lives of over 6 million people, and causing immense grief among their families and friends. We, health professionals and advocates, make ours the mission of saving lives from the scourge of the pandemic. Everything we know suggests the pandemic is decreasing, but it is not evenly affecting les developed countries, which reflects the difficulty in accessing the tools to combat it.

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), on behalf of the Sustainable Health Equity Movement (SHEM), respectfully expresses to the United Nations its deep concern about inequitable access to the COVID-19 vaccines that we are seeing around the world. In order to effectively control the pandemic, it will be necessary to ensure an international vaccination strategy through which a significant portion of every country’s population receives the vaccine. Incoherent with this basic epidemiological principle, the current vaccine distribution process will preclude reaching herd immunity or, at best, will lead countries to reach herd immunity at very different rates, based largely on wealth, in sharp contradiction with the demands of equity. In addition, this distribution process will prevent the global economy’s fast recovery, causing greater human suffering and premature mortality.

During COP26 2021, world leaders are gathering to debate key factors for human survival. Inequities are more flagrant than ever, whereas the poorest and most vulnerable countries and populations worldwide are the ones paying the highest price. The urgency of "negotiators" is far from synchronized with the actual needs of the people. They are paying with lives instead of carbon credits, despaired by the impacts of the pandemic and by the system rules lack of compassion from the richest to the most disadvantaged.

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), on behalf of the Sustainable Health Equity Movement (SHEM), respectfully expresses to the General Council of the World Trade Organization its deep concern about inequitable access to the COVID-19 vaccines that we are seeing around the world. In order to effectively control the pandemic, it will be necessary to ensure an international vaccination strategy through which a significant portion of every country’s population receives the vaccine. Incoherent with this basic epidemiological principle, the current vaccine distribution process will preclude reaching herd immunity or, at best, will lead countries to reach herd immunity at very different rates, based largely on wealth, in sharp contradiction with the demands of equity.

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), on behalf of the Sustainable Health Equity Movement (SHEM), respectfully expresses to the WHO Executive Board its deep concern about inequitable access to the COVID-19 vaccines that we are seeing around the world. In order to effectively control the pandemic, it will be necessary to ensure an international vaccination strategy through which a significant portion of every country’s population receives the vaccine. Incoherent with this basic epidemiological principle, the current vaccine distribution process will preclude reaching herd immunity or, at best, will lead countries to reach herd immunity at very different rates, based largely on wealth, in sharp contradiction with the demands of equity. In addition, this distribution process will prevent the global economy’s fast recovery, causing greater human suffering and premature mortality.

In the current context of health crisis, the most effective way to advance towards the global strengthening of human rights is to promote global recovery through universal, equitable and free access to end users to all health technologies that have been proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19. It is essential to increase the production and distribution of vaccines, medicines, medical oxygen and diagnostic tests, fostering knowledge sharing and technology transfer, with the waiving of intellectual property rights. Immunization against COVID-19 must be recognized as a global public good in order to contain the transmission of the coronavirus and help to put an end to the pandemic. It is equally essential to eliminate all unilateral coercive sanctions that are limiting the access of populations to the resources to live and survive the pandemic.

The Sustainable Health Equity Movement (SHEM) Working Group on Human Rights and Equity and the Framework Convention on Global Health Alliance call on World Health Organization Member States participating in the Special Session 74th World Health Assembly to support the development of a rights and equity-based pandemic treaty that strengthens pandemic preparedness and response and addresses the failings of the global COVID-19 response.

In the current context of health crisis, the most effective way to advance towards the strengthening of the sustainable development goals is to promote global recovery through universal, equitable and free access to end users to all health technologies that have been proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19. It is essential to increase the production and distribution of vaccines, medicines, medical oxygen and diagnostic tests, fostering knowledge sharing and technology transfer, with the waiving of intellectual property rights. Immunization against COVID-19 must be recognized as a global public good in order to contain the transmission of the coronavirus and help to put an end to the pandemic. It is equally essential to eliminate all unilateral coercive sanctions that are limiting the access of populations to the resources to live and survive the pandemic.

Discussions on the "Proposal for a Waiver from Certain Provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the Prevention, Containment and Treatment of COVID-19" are currently taking place in the TRIPS Council. During the General Council meeting last December, I encouraged all delegations to remain engaged in these discussions. I understand the TRIPS Council will report to the General Council on the results of its deliberations, in line with the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.

One year after our request (SHEM founding letter) of lifting Covid-related patents, the government of the United States announced last 6th May its position to do so for Covid vaccines and for the duration of the pandemic partially supporting the proposal to the World Trade Organization that India and South Africa made last October joined thereafter by over 160 countries.